A coalition of Kitsap County residents and conservation groups has filed appeals over some provisions of the CAO. Under provisions of the Growth Management Act (GMA), filing an appeal with the Hearings Board is the required first step for any citizen or jurisdiction to challenge either the content or the development process for any GMA related ordinance.

“The goal of the appeal is to provide better protections for shorelines and wetlands, which benefit Kitsap citizens by helping to keep beaches and drinking water clean, prevent floods and landslides, and preserve wildlife habitat for recreational and commercial enjoyment,” said Tom Donnelly, representing Kitsap Citizens for Responsible Planning (KCRP), one of the appellants.

The controversial CAO was updated to meet the GMA requirement for fast growing counties and cities to review current protections and plan for future growth. The Kitsap County Department of Community Development (DCD) initially drafted the ordinance that went before the Planning Commission, which held two seven-hour public hearings. Although DCD had originally promised to bring forward a third draft of the ordinance which was to include suggestions based on the public input from those public hearings as well as Planning Commission recommendations, it ultimately refused to make any of the more than 100 suggested changes.

Then last November, DCD sent a “final” draft to the County Commissioners for a public hearing. The ordinance was approved by a 2-1 vote, with Democratic Commissioner Chris Endresen and Republican Commissioner Patty Lent voting for approval, while Republican Jan Angel voted against the measure. The updated CAO was adopted on December 31, 2005.

Lent’s vote in favor of the CAO so angered many of her supporters, that they are backing a Republican challenger, Jack Hamilton, for her commission seat. Lent is up for re-election this year and will face Hamilton in the primary election in August.

Certified Forester Jim Trainer of Kitsap Treez joins KCRP in the appeal along with the Krigsmans, the West Sound Conservation Council, the Hood Canal Environmental Council, People for Puget Sound, and Futurewise (formerly 1000 Friends of Washington).

The appeal specifically addresses what it terms as the lack of any protections for Category III Wetlands less than 2500 square feet, Category IV Wetlands less than 7500 square feet, and cites the 35-foot setbacks as minimal shoreline protection.

Meanwhile, the Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners (KAPO) has also filed an appeal. Their appeal, filed by KAPO’s attorney, Sandy Mackie at Perkins Coie, alleges a variety of errors and incorrect actions on the part of the county.

“Let us be absolutely clear”, said Vivian Henderson, KAPO executive director. “This appeal is not aimed at reducing or negating the effective protection of critical areas in Kitsap County or endangering our water supply. As our name indicates, we are property owners in Kitsap County. We live here and we are as interested as any other citizen in preserving our vital natural resources.”

“What we are challenging is the authority of our county government to simply make thousands of acres of private property ‘Off Limits’ to the individual property owners. We are talking about removing control of millions of dollars worth of property from its owners and, in some cases, setting those private lands and buffers aside, dedicating it to the public, without demonstrating either need or real benefit or providing compensation to the property owner.  I cannot envision how anyone in America could find that kind of government action acceptable.”

The appeal filed by KAPO challenges the county on failure to ensure effective public participation in the process, failure to include best available science and the imposition of large buffers, encumbrances of title and other restrictions on private property.

These all involve use of vague, conflicting and unenforceable provisions subject to the interpretation of other agencies and the wholly inexplicable failure to conduct any environmental review on the CAO version ultimately approved by the Board of County Commissioners.

The appeal asks the Central Washington Growth Management Hearings Board to declare the County’s efforts “not in compliance” with the State’s Growth Management Act and SEPA, and to remand the ordinance back to the County for proper review.

KAPO’s appeal also cites the fact that while public input was ignored by DCD, the Planning Commission recommendations were ignored as well, and that DCD flatly refused to answer numerous questions from the Planning Commission, which voted 6-3 to recommend against adoption of the CAO.

A majority of members of the Planning Commission had also planned to appeal as well, but a public documents request necessary for that action was stalled by the county. Although the material was released before the appeal deadline, it wasn’t released in time for attorney’s to complete their work and file the appeal on time. There may be some legal ramifications from that as well, but no decisions had been made at presstime.

The Central Washington Growth Management Hearing’s Board by law must hear and decide the case by the end of August.

The details of the appeal and the appropriate record evidence will be brought before the Hearings Board over the next several months. It is anticipated that the hearing process may take up to six months, and if successful will result in an order by the Hearings Board to the county to correct the errors noted.

In addition, it is anticipated that certain aspects of the appeal will not be within the jurisdiction of the Hearings Board and may be pursued in Superior Court.

Additional information about Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners may be found at www.kapo.org.